Day 1 of Ireland's first cricket test a washout

Ireland fast bowler Stuart Thompson plays football on a rain-sodden pitch as Ireland prepare to play their first ever cricket Test against Pakistan on Friday in Malahide, Ireland. Charles McQuillan / Getty Images

A woman shelters from the rain as groundsmen work on the wet pitch at Malahide, an area in Dublin, as the start of play is delayed on the first day of the Test between Ireland and Pakistan on Friday. Yet there was no denying the disappointment at a wet and windy ground as rain delayed the scheduled start. Paul Faith / AFP

Groundsmen work on the wet pitch at Malahide as the start of play is delayed on the first day of the Test. Paul Faith / AFP

People wait in their seats as groundsmen work on the wet pitch at Malahide. Paul Faith / AFP

A groundsman at work in the rain as Ireland prepare to play their first ever cricket Test against Pakistan on Friday. Charles McQuillan / Getty Images

A fan shelters from the rain at Malahide on Friday. Clodagh Kilcoyne / Reuters

A fan shelters from the rain at Malahide. Clodagh Kilcoyne / Reuters

The start of Ireland's inaugural first Test against Pakistan was delayed following overnight rain in Malahide. Donall Farmer / AP Photo

When you have waited nearly 300 years to play your first Test match, a few more hours' delay may not seem that significant.

Yet there was no denying the disappointment at a wet and windy Malahide ground in Dublin as rain delayed, and then cancelled the first day of playof Ireland's inaugural Test.

As ground staff did their best to dry out the square and outfield ahead of the one-off match against Pakistan, a few hardy spectators at a ground where temporary stands had increased the capacity to 6,000 did their best to seek shelter.

The grey skies added to the sense of anti-climax but there was also a sense it would take a lot more than some bad weather to dampen the enthusiasm and pride felt by so many within Irish cricket as their side stood on the brink of becoming just the 11th nation to play Test cricket.

That this match had captured the attention of an Irish public used to Gaelic sports, racing and rugby holding sway, could be seen from the fact that a preview of the match was the main item on Thursday's evening television news bulletin on RTE, Ireland's national state broadcaster.

It was all a far cry from the time when Ed Joyce, arguably the country's greatest batsman and set to play in this match, was physically attacked as a boy just for carrying a cricket bat.

Friday's Irish Times proclaimed: "Truly historic sporting occasions don't come around too often but today, for 11 men wearing white sweaters embossed with shamrocks, what unfolds at Malahide will be truly momentous."

"I've dreamed of being a Test cricketer for as long as I can remember. I must have dreamt the dream 100,000 times," Ireland wicketkeeper Niall O'Brien wrote in an accompanying column.

Yet while many Irish sports fans are starting to get acquainted with cricket, the sport has deep roots in the "Emerald Isle".

There are records of cricket being played in Ireland as early as 1731. But the sport's reputation suffered from being seen as the creation of English "colonisers".

Ireland first made the rest of the cricket world sit up and take notice when they skittled out the touring West Indies, reputed to have enjoyed some typically generous Irish hospitality the night before, for just 25 on their way to a win at Sion Mills in 1969.